3rd Time's a Charm
by Michele Grahn
Summary: Sara was floating. She was a wreck. She was a floating wreck.
1. The Saga Begins

Title: 3rd Time's a Charm

Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to the show CSI or the characters. I think the people

who have them now are doing a pretty good job so there is no need for me to steal them for more than a few stories.

Rating: PG- 13 Just to be safe

Category: GS- UST then RST- ok duh

Author's note: This is my first CSI fic… bear with me please… I became a fan early season 4 but since then I have bought seasons 1 and 3 on DVD and have rented all of season 2. I'm missing a couple episodes from season 4 but other than that- I've seen them all… Yes- I'm THAT obsessed.

**NOTE:** AS AUTHOR I CHOOSE TO TACTFULLY IGNORE THE FACT THAT SARA IS NOW APPARENTLY AN ALCOHOLIC!!!

Dedication: This is for my one and only CSI buddy, ANGELA! Who will appear in this story as "Lily"

Ok people, here we go!

Set Up

"_Wow"_

That was the only thought going through Sara Sidle's head at the moment. She had just returned to work at CSI after a few months vacation, and she was quite surprised. Grissom had been working out. And he must have really been going at it because he looked… well, hot. He wasn't exactly ripped but he looked good. Sara had always found him to be an attractive man but-

"Shiiiiiit" she thought

Or at least she thought she only thought it, because at that moment, the new buff and Buddha belly-less Grissom turned and saw her.

"_Wow"_

That was the only thing Grissom could think. Sara had spent a few months in San Francisco visiting he parents and some friends. He thought she looked incredibly sexy. Being in the sun during the day had given her quite a nice tan and freckles all over her face and shoulders to boot. The tight shell she was wearing showed that off to perfection. She also looked more relaxed than he had seen her in 4 years.

The two finally met eyes and smiled nervously, mutually deciding not to mention the fact that they had both been completely ogling the other. Grissom found his voice first for a change.

"Sara, you look rested, welcome back."

Sara quickly shook her head clear and tried to come up with a coherent sentence.

"Griss, hi, you look… well… wow, I mean yeah, it's nice to be back. It's good to be away but I started to miss… everything."

She shut her mouth physically with her hand and mentally smacked herself upside the head.

"_Smoooooth, Sidle. Real Smooth."_ She thought

Grissom just chuckled and replied

"I know I look different but I saw this thing on TV and it never hurts to get in shape, right?"

Sara smiled

"Money well spent, you look great Griss.

She was still grinning at the thought of Grissom calling up an infomercial to order ANYTHING. As she further studied him she noticed that his beard was shorter and cleaner lined. She decided that he must have lost around 30 pounds. The man looked 10 years younger.

The pair was pulled from their sweet solitude when the rest of the night shift came bustling into the break room. Everyone greeted Sara with hugs and "welcome backs". Then it was down to business as usual. Catherine and Nick were on a B&E off the strip and Warrick was solo on an apparent suicide. Grissom and Sara were forced on catch-up paper work, much to their enjoyment.

Two hours into shift, Grissom was looking for Sara and found her in the layout room doing piles of backed up paper work.

"What a trooper." He said, making her smile tiredly.

"Yeah, remember this when my Christmas bonus rolls around"

"Will do- we're out of here. Murder in Treasure Island. 25 year old woman. There's no ID yet."

"Okay." Sara said

She jumped up, anxious to get away from the evil papers before her.

"Let me grab my coat, Grissom, and we're gone."

Grissom followed her out of the room smiling at her returned exuberance for the job. He didn't know that he would not witness another smile from her for a month. If he knew what was going to unfold, he never would have left the lab that night.

TBC

OK, That's the set- up- Should I keep going? I have the first 2 chapters after this written so if it sucks tell me now before I write more!!


	2. Dante

AN: Same disclaimer as before!

Chapter 1

Sara and Grissom reached the scene and found Brass waiting with a not-so-good look on his face.

"What do we have?" Grissom asked

"Her name is Dante Liguori. We got her ID from the registry at the hotel. COD is, as David put it, 'really gross'. Throat slash, stab would to the lower back and suspected rape. 3rd floor, room 329, all yours guys."

Grissom and Sara walked into the hotel and made their way up to the room. They rode the elevator in silent anticipation, trying not to stare at each other. They entered the room and began the preliminary walkthrough. The body was found in the bathroom, and Grissom actually winced at the sight before him.

There was an incredible amount of blood, all of which was contained in the bathtub along with the body. The victim was nearly covered in it. It appeared as though the victim, Dante, was in the shower and was surprised by her attacker. It was clear that her throat had been violently slashed from right to left and that she had been raped. A tiny puncture protruding from her lower left abdomen showed that the stab would from her back had gone all the way through her body. Grissom froze at Dante's eyes, they were open, which was not something new, but they still held such a look of fear and terror that Grissom shivered.

"_No one should be subjected to this." _Was the obvious thought that kept running through his mind.

Just at that moment, Sara came into the bathroom. Before she got the chance to see the body, Grissom practically shoved her back into the hall of the hotel room.

"Sara, I want you to check the rest of the room. Closets, balcony, bed, kitchenette, anything the killer could have left behind or touched. Then I want you to take an officer and question the guests on this floor. See if they saw or heard anything unusual."

Sara narrowed her eyes. She knew Grissom was keeping her on the outside on purpose. He didn't think she could handle a rape case.

"Grissom, we could have the rookies do that. Why can't I examine the body, take pictures-"

"Sara, I didn't ask you what you wanted to do. I told you what I needed done, that's your job, now do it."

She blinked. This was such a stark contrast to their mood before. Her anger began to rise once again. He thought she couldn't handle seeing a rape victim, like she was some green newbie.

"_Fine, you jerk," _She thought. _"He doesn't want to see me here? Great. I'm Frickin invisible from now on."_

Sara shot Grissom her iciest glare and stalked away.

Grissom turned back and returned to the bathroom. He knew Sara thought he was being unfair, and maybe he was, just a little. But in his own mind he was doing this for her own good. He wanted to spare her the nightmares he was sure would follow after processing this scene.

"God knows I am going to have enough of my own to deal with." He thought.

He emerged from the bathroom a little under an hour later. All he found was some possible skin cells under Dante's exposed hand and one, short, blonde hair a few feet from the tub. It still had a skin tag suggesting it was pulled out in a struggle.

Throughout the process he couldn't look at Dante's face. She didn't look very much like Sara but the dark hair and eyes were enough for Grissom's Sara-riddled mind to be skittish.

Grissom found that Sara had finished 10 minutes ago- she's nothing if not efficient- and had already left.

"Wow, she must be pretty steamed if she left without telling me." He thought. "Great, she has been back for 4 hours and she's already mad at me again."

He returned to the lab and gave his evidence to Greg. Then he went to his office to try to finish some of his paperwork. He'd worry about getting back on Sara's good side later.

Sorry for the short chapter but I'm packing up to go to college. So I apologize if the updates are sporadic.

OK QUESTION. I see this all the time in fics but I have no idea what it is.

What is a trick roll??????


	3. Sara

Chapter 2!

Same disclaimer as the others- Want them, don't have them, Just gonna borrow them.

Grissom returned to the lab and gave his evidence to Greg. Then he went to his office to try to finish some of his paperwork. He'd worry about getting back on Sara's good side later.

He emerged about 3 hours later when Greg paged him with the lab results. The hair and skin cells were male- outside donor- both were the same man. A man names Chase Gregory. Current residence: San Francisco, California. He thanked Greg and went to find Sara. He hoped the news would put her in a better mood. He'd heard from Greg and Archie that she was on somewhat of a warpath.

Grissom read down the rap sheet and found that this guy was not new to the system; Assault on girlfriend in '94, rape of girlfriend in '95, prison for 5 years, another assault on a bartender in 2001 and a drunk and disorderly in 2002. He was put back in prison in 2002 for attempted rape and just got out 3 months ago.

Sara was still in the layout room when he found her. She had all the neighbors' interviews, hotel room layout, lab results and other evidence surrounding her. She didn't even look up when Grissom came in. She knew he was there, she'd heard his bow-legged, unmistakable gait from down the hall. For a moment, she almost forgot she was mad at him. But she remembered before he arrived in the layout room and replaced her slight smile with a blank mask in the blink of and eye.

Grissom knew he was in trouble when Sara ignored him. He thought he may be able to avoid an actual apology if the new evidence cajoled her into a better mood.

"We have a suspect" he said as a way of greeting.

Sara just looked up at him for a moment, blinked, then returned her attention to her evidence. Grissom braced his arms on the table next to Sara and brought himself into her personal space, in order to get her attention. It worked. He noticed her gulp and the attempt to avert her gaze to anywhere but him. Grissom smiled. As much as he knew it was wrong to do that, it was the easy way to get Sara's focus on him, and it ALWAYS worked.

"He's a 34 year old from San Francisco, both the hair and the sin were a match to him. We should have no problem getting a warrant for him. He's been escalating since '94, and has 2 prison visits under his belt. Got out of the first sentence in half the time for good behavior -go figure. Then he got sent back. Oh well-"

Grissom stopped talking for a moment and noticed Sara was staring at him with her eyebrow arched in an accusatory way/

"What?" he asked

Sara just looked at him pointedly and said

"Hair? Skin cells?"

"Oh, yeah, I found them in the bathroom. The hair was a foot and a half from the tub, Shortish blonde. The skin cells came from underneath the victim's right hand fingernails. I would have told you but you'd already left the scene when I finished."

"And you didn't feel it was important enough to page me? Or at least tell me when you got back to the lab? You could have saved me 2 damn hours of pointless work trying to organize the neighbors' stories. Evidence trumps the witnesses, remember? God, Grissom, what does it take to get a little consideration from you?"

Sara grabbed up almost all of the papers in front of her and dumped them unceremoniously into the trash. She sat back down with a large sigh and glared at Grissom.

"So did you solve the case while I was wasting my time completely in here or do we still have some work to do?" she spat

Grissom fought back a flinch at her tone. He had to distract her quickly or seriously run the risk of leaving the room without a head.

"Like I was saying, we have a suspect from the hair and skin- we have enough for a warrant, Brass is on it now so let's go pick him up."

"Fine, let's go." Sara said

She stood quickly and followed Grissom out of the room.

"So who is this guy anyway?" Sara asked as they were walking down the hallway

"His name is Chase Gregory, lives in San Franciso but apparently he s in town for the week- convenient huh?... Sara?"

Grissom looked up to see that Sara was not beside him anymore. He looked back and saw her way back down the hall, frozen, very pale and looking more than a little scared.

"Sara, are you alright? What's wrong?" Grissom asked worriedly, moving quickly towards her.

"What did you say the name was?" she asked shakily

"Gregory, Chase Gregory. Why?"

"He's supposed to be in jail for 6 more months at least.... He, he,... he can't be here, he's not-"

At that point Sara turned sheet white and Grissom lunged forward to catch her as her knees bucked and she fainted.

Grissom was really scared now. He picked Sara up in his arms and very carefully carried her for the few steps to the break room. Luckily no one saw them. He set her down carefully on the couch and balled up his jacket to put under her head. He moved quickly to the sink and soaked a hand towel in cold water. He knelt next to the couch and gently wiped her forehead and neck with the cloth, all the while quietly whispering her name and soft comforts trying to rouse her.

Sara's eyes slowly fluttered open and she looked around, trying to assess where she was. She felt very embarrassed. She'd never fainted before in her life, why did she now?

"Ooooh, my God." Sara groaned as the past few moments flashed back. She sat up slowly and Grissom gave her a small cup of water. She sipped the water but kept her eyes closed, trying to forget what happened

"Sara?"

Nothing.

"Sara? Sara? Honey you're scaring me, who is Chase Gregory, do you know-"

"DON'T- say his name, Grissom, don't say it. He should still be in jail- why is he out?"

"Good behavior, I was telling you before. Sara why did you faint? Do you know him? Who is he?"

Sara opened her eyes and looked at the cup in her shaking hands. As she looked into Grissom's eyes painfully, a single tear rolled down her cheek.

"He's the man that raped me."

TBC

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Ok that's it for right now. Oh come on now- you all had to know THAT was gonna happen. Like I said before, it's cliché but it makes for decent stories.

Again, I'm sorry for the short chapters but I have to fit this stuff in between the choice times for freshman college classes.

R&R PEEPS!


	4. Chase

A/N: Sorry this is taking so long- Turns out that this college stuff requires some work...what a rip off!! Also I just found out that I am going to be an Aunt- Whoopie- So I will really try to get these chapters out faster...Really... I swear....

Anyway, I will shut up now

Chapter 3

"What?" Grissom asked incredulously

Sara had whispered so timidly that he hoped his ears were playing tricks. Sara only looked at him as a second tear appeared and mirrored the other down her face. He knew he'd heard correctly. The team as a whole had figured that she'd had a bad experience of her own or someone close to her, judging from her varied emotional reactions in sexual assault cases. Grissom had just prayed that it wasn't her experience- he was wrong.

Sara's eyes misted as she started vaguely describing Chase Gregory. As she spoke, Grissom felt a white hot rage building up inside. How dare anyone violate her this way- He knew he'd have to hand lead in this case over to Catherine. Because God help him if he were in the same room as this man for even one second. And he didn't want to risk compromising the case by any means. He also knew Sara would have to come off the case. He knew she could not be objective about it anymore.

"Sara, I think you shouldn't work on this case anymore, you should go home and try to get some rest. This is obviously stressful for you...

I swear to you we'll get him." He added softly

Surprisingly, Sara didn't argue. She just nodded and continued to stare straight ahead, obviously lost in thought. Grissom took her cup and placed it on the counter. He returned to her and gently gripped her hands and pulled her from the couch. Instead of pushing her past him as he had after the explosion, handing her off to the paramedic, he blocked her path with his body. He waited for her to look up at him and he tentatively cupped her cheek in his left hand, holding her hand in his other.

"I promise you, Sara, he'll go down for this. Everyone is on it- there are no other cases, we can pass them to days, and swing shift."

Sara just looked at him and leaned into the support and his warm hand. Grissom felt this was a good sign and pulled her into a large hug. Sara rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes as she sighed.

"_I can't believe this is happening,"_ she thought. _"Why now? I thought I was getting things back on track." _

She reveled in the moment of actual, substantial contact with Grissom as he slowly rubbed large circles on her back. She tried to hang onto the feeling of security that he was giving her as hey stood there. It was amazing that it took something like this for him to touch her. Grissom discreetly breathed in the scent of her hair as he moved hi head away.

"Sara, I also think that you should have a uniform stay with you until we catch ...him." Grissom said. Obediently, not saying his name.

Grissom jumped as Sara pulled away as if she had been burned.

"What?" She asked, astounded

"Grissom, No! I will not let him affect my life like that. I will not be scared to be in my own home again!"

"Sara, this isn't a choice-"

"Don't you dare tell me what to do, you have no say in this. It's my life and the last time I checked, you weren't involved in it." She spat back, vehemently

With that she left the break room and got her things from her locker. Rambling on to no one really, just letting things out.

"Who the hell does he think he is? He can't order me around like that! I can take care of my damn self. I am OUT of here."

She stormed out of the locker room and headed to her car. She sat in it for a few long moments taking deep breaths and trying to compose herself before she got on the road.

Grissom still stood stock still in the break room. He had again bore witness to the ever changing moods of Sara sidle. He thought he had been doing well. He couldn't understand why Sara would be willing to risk her physical well being because of her pride. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized the importance of being able to take care of oneself to a person who had gone this sort of ordeal. He decided to apologize to her. Maybe take her out to breakfast. It would serve multiple purposes.

He could keep her mind off of Chase Gregory

He could keep his mind off of KILLING Chase Gregory

He could keep an eye on her

He could spend real time with her.

Sure it was a sneaky way to do it but hey, he had to start somewhere, right? He decided just to head right over to her apartment so she really could not refuse. He was determined about this.

Meanwhile Sara was just getting home. She was still fuming.

"How dare he talk to me like that?! Trying to say I can't take care of myself. Why is he acting like this? It's bordering on protective... ha... possessive is more like it. What is it Grissom? No one is allowed to throw my life into turmoil or fuck with my head except you? What the Hell is that about?"

She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't notice key things that an investigator should notice; especially in their own home. Things like her couch pillow moved, that her window was open, that the bedroom door was closed. She shucked her shoes and flopped onto her couch.

It was then, after a few moments, that she started to become aware of these things. Sara slowly unclipped her gun from its place at her hip. She walked slowly and cautiously through the rest of her tiny apartment, save for the bedroom. As she approached it she took a deep breath to calm her ragged nerves. She turned the knob and pushed the door open halfway. She entered the room gun first and followed with her body.

She didn't see anything out of the ordinary so she lowered her gun. She started to think she was being foolish. She didn't finish that thought because as she neared her bed, her door slammed shut. She whirled around and found Chase Gregory leaning casually against it. Smiling an unsettlingly large smile.

"Well hello Sue, I was beginning to wonder when you were going to get home. I have been waiting patiently for hours."

Sara cringed and raised her gun back up level with his head.

"Don't call me that, and get the hell out of my home.

Chase just continued to smile. He stood up straight and took a small step towards Sara. She stepped backwards but kept her aim steady. He laughed.

"Why are you pointing that thing at me Sue, we both know you would never be able to kill someone, especially me, in cold blood."

"You are in my home without permission. Take another step and I will shoot you. It will be self defense."

Sara's voice sounded firm but her hands were visibly shaking. Chase did not appear to be threatened at all. He just kept on staring. The clock in Sara's living room suddenly sounded the hour, startling Sara so much she almost dropped her gun. This was all that Chase needed. He lunged forward and swatted the gun easily from her hand. It landed with a soft thud on the top of her bed. He grabbed Sara's wrist and flung her against the wall next to the door. She knew that her head was probably bleeding and that she nly had a limited amount of time until she passed out. Her vision blacked for a moment. When she could see clearly she saw Chase going for the gun.

She launched herself onto his back and knocked the gun out of the way. He managed to get her off of his back and give her a sharp backhand across the face. Sara felt the blood coming from her mouth and her nose. That combined with the pounding in her head from being slammed into the wall was making her disoriented. Somehow, she kicked him in the face as she fell to the floor beside her bed. Her hand pressed on something hard and she realized it was her gun. She only half aimed it in his general direction before shooting.

She missed but it was enough to scare him. He spun around and ran out of the room. Sara got up to follow him. As she turned into the living room she saw him fumbling with the dead bolt and chain on her door. She was setting up her shot but was having difficulty aiming because of various hits she'd taken to the head. He heard her and faced her with a bloody nose, he looked around frantically and grabbed the first thing he could to hurl at her. The closest thing was a medium sized pot with a large beautiful white orchid in it sitting on her hall table. He grabbed it and threw it at her head.

Sara was able to move and duck. The pot landed at her feet, but the shards scattered and some shot into her feet and hands. When she stood up again Chase had the door open and was rushing out. She let out one more shot just in case but he was already out the door.

Sara started heading for the door and she heard a loud "Oomph" it sounded like two people had literally run into each other. She heard someone yell "hey, watch where you're going." By the time she got to the door, she was feeling so lightheaded that she sat down right there in the open doorway.

As she was fading out of consciousness she heard a voice.

"Sara? Sara! Oh my God, Sara. Can you hear me?"

She was surprised as she recognized the voice as Grissom. There were so many things going through her head that she wanted to say to him. But only one thing came out of her mouth.

"He broke your plant."

She passed out and Grissom looked around frantically. He saw the blood coming from her mouth, nose, hands and feet. He also saw the blood that streaked down the door from where her head had slid down. He checked to make sure that she was still breathing and then called 911. When he got off the phone he looked around the small living room again. This time he saw the broken pieces of pottery clay, dirt clods, and the lovely orchid he had sent her laying on the floor.

It made sense now what she had said to him. He was surprised that she had kept it alive this long. Hell, he was surprised that she kept it at all. He turned back to her unconscious form and gathered her into his arms. He murmured in her ears comforting things until he heard the sounds of sirens in the distance.

!3 hours later, Grissom woke up sitting in the chair next to Sara's bed. The doctors had bandaged her head, hands, and feet, but she was still unconscious. All of a sudden he saw her stir. He sat up quickly and leaned near her. Sara's eyes fluttered open and looked around. Her eyes settled on Grissom and she looked confused.

"Sara, honey? How do you feel?"

She just looked at him and blinked. After a few moments she opened he mouth. Her voice was dry and raspy.

"Who are you?"

TBC

See? Told you it was cliché. But there is a reason people do these stories a lot. They work. Or at least I hope this one is. Keep up with the feedback. I love it! Sorry this is taking so long guys.


	5. Sue

A/N: I am so terribly sorry for such a long time without updating this story. That's why I wrote my other really short story- The Spot- Gotta love fluff. Anyway- I am on thanksgiving break so I am going to try to get 2 more chapters up while I am home. We'll see. Ok- Read on!!

Chapter 4

For the second time in 24 hours, Grissom found himself wondering if he had misheard something Sara had said.

"Are you a doctor?" she added, looking confused and flushing.

"Sara that's not funny… do, you, you really not know who I am?"

Sara just cocked her head and slowly shook it. Her eyes were squinted and her lips were pursed. Grissom knew that look. It was the contemplative look. He needed to sit down. His world was spinning. For her part, Sara looked equally alarmed.

"Should I know you, I mean, I feel like you are vaguely familiar. But I can't really place you."

"Sara, you work with me at the Las Vegas Crime Lab."

"Vegas? That's the second best lab in the country!"

"Sara, what year is it?"

"2004… right?"

"Yes, that's right, do you know your name?"

"Sara."

"The whole thing."

"Sara Juliet Sidle. My mother's name is Eileen, my father's name is John, and my brother's name is Seamus, I even had a dog named Lochlan, and my brother had a cat named James. I suppose that's where you were going next."

"Yes, that's good, do you know where you live? Where you work? Who you work with?"

"No… No… and apparently with you. But I still don't know exactly who you are at the moment."

Grissom sighed and rubbed a heavy hand across his tired face.

"My name is Gil Grissom, I am your supervisor at the lab."

"The Gil Grissom? No Way! I went to a couple of your seminars in college. You didn't have a beard then, though. Oh, ok that's where I know you from. I loved those seminars. I can't believe that I work with you!"

Sara's eyes were sparkling with curiosity and joy, despite the situation that apparently was not bothering her much. Grissom just looked at her for a few moments. It was great to see that look on her face, just for a little while. It had been such a long time. He wondered if she still felt that way about working with him. At that moment, the doctor came into the room.

"Oh, good, you're awake. How are you feeling?"

Sara sat still for a moment, like she hadn't thought about how she felt yet, then she addressed the doctor.

"My head is pounding a little bit but otherwise I feel fine."

"That's good. You got a few nice knocks so we are going to keep you for one more night just to be on the safe side."

"You might want to keep her for longer than that." Grissom added quietly

"Why is that?" The doctor responded

"Because I think she has amnesia."

The doctor spun to look at Sara, he grabbed the other chair in the room and sat next to Sara's bed beside Grissom.

"Do you know your name?"

Sara sighed and answered the same questions Grissom asked before.

"What is the last clear memory you have?"

Sara thought for a moment.

"Working on a cold case in San Francisco, a boy kidnapped from a rich family. I figured it out 10 minutes before the end of shift. I ended up working a triple to find the kidnapper. She was actually raising him as her own son. After that, I remember going home, going to sleep and that's it. But I knew what year it was when I woke up just now. This is weird."

The doctor looked at Grissom whose eyes were wide.

"Sara" Grissom said lowly "That was nearly 5 years ago. That was the last case you worked before I called you to work with me. I actually called you the very next day after that."

"Okay, Sara, we are going to do a few more tests but I think that you have medium, grade amnesia. It's not uncommon after such a traumatic event and injury but I'm confused as to the degree. I'll be back in a little while to run those tests."

The doctor left and the pair just looked at each other. Grissom was first to speak.

"I suppose I should call the rest of the team, they've been worried about you, too."

He got up to leave but Sara pulled his hand back. He turned to see a question in her eyes.

"You're my supervisor, right?"

"Yes"

"Are we friends? You know, outside of work."

"Well, um it's complicated with us, I mean…"

"Are we more than friends?"

"We're… why do you ask?"

"Well because you were here when I woke up, and I'm assuming you were here while I was sleeping because your clothes have wrinkles. Deep ones, like you have been in the same position for a long time." She explained

"_Well at least the CSI part of her brain is still functional."_ Grissom thought.

Sara continued

"And because of how I felt when I woke up before."

"How was that?" Grissom inquired

"I was confused. I didn't know yet that I was missing four and a half years of my memory but I still felt wrong. But when I saw you it was the strangest thing. Even though I didn't know who you were, my heart felt like it was speeding up and slowing down at the same time. It's like my body knows you but my mind doesn't. So I was wondering if we ever, you know…"

"No. No we haven't."

"So we are just friends then."

It was a statement, not a question. She nodded and looked back down at her hands. Grissom quietly left the room to call the rest of the team. He knew that if Sara had been of sound mind she would have been horrified by her admissions. But secretly he was glad she had said them. This memory impaired Sara was less defensive. And as sneaky as it was, it might give him the chance to find out a few more things. He reached the lobby of the hospital and pulled out his cell phone. He called Catherine and told her everything that was going on so she could pass it on to the team.

"Gil, that is so strange. She doesn't remember anything about the last four and a half years? Do they know why yet?"

Grissom just sighed and kept pacing like mad. His mind was racing with possibilities. Suddenly it occurred to him. He had to sit down. He plopped down into one of the hard orange chairs and groaned.

"Cath, I know what's wrong with Sara."

"What do you mean?"

"It's me. I'm the reason she can't remember the last 5 years. That's when I came into her life. She remembers right up to the night before I called her to come investigate Warrick. Cath, she's repressing me. What did I do to her?"

"Oh Gil, That can't be it. There has to be more than that to it."

"No- no there doesn't. She has feelings for me. She told me as much just before I called you. And do you know the only thing she said was when I found her this morning at her apartment? She told me that Chase Gregory had broken the plant that I sent her. He threw it at her I think. She was loosing consciousness and she wanted me to go and fix the damn plant."

"Gil, you sent her that plant almost 3 years ago. I can't believe that she kept it alive."

"It was huge Catherine. Orchids require a lot of work to stay alive, let alone to grow that size. What am I going to do?"

"Well first you are going to get your ass back in that room and talk to her. She's alone right now, mentally and physically. How would you feel if you woke up and realized you were missing half a decade of memories? And after that, well we will figure that out as we go." Catherine replied rather matter-of-factly.

Grissom smiled, he really had to wonder why they had not fired him and given her his job yet. He hung up with her and went back up to Sara's room. She was sleeping. He sat quietly in the chair next to her bed and just watched her for a long while. He had seen her sleeping a couple times before, when she would doze off in the break room after a double. He enjoyed being able to observe her without repercussion. She looked so much more relaxed and peaceful than during her waking hours. Grissom knew that he was partly responsible for making her that way. He reached over and brushed a stray lock of hair away from her face and his hand lingered as he let his fingers glide over the bruises on her forehead. His blood boiled at the thought of anyone hitting Sara. He tried to calm himself and instead of focusing on Chase Gregory, he contented himself with watching the rhythmic rise and fall of Sara's chest as she breathed deep heavy sleeping breaths.

He lifted her hand and looked at the smooth skin on the back of it. He turned it over in his and saw a white scar running through her palm from the explosion. Grissom still got chills when he thought about that day. Had she asked him out on ANY other day, his answer would have been different. But that day he had his cursed doctor's appointment and was chalking the invitation up to her rushing hormones and adrenaline. Maybe he was wrong. He traced the scar lightly with his fingertips and extended his hand to cover hers. He brought his face down to it and lightly placed a kiss over it.

"We will figure this out as soon as you're better Sara. I promise you."

He rested his cheek in her upturned palm and looked up at her, still sleeping as peacefully as before. Clearly not hearing his admission to the night. He eventually fell asleep that way.

The two were awakened about an hour later by a knock on the door. Grissom woke first and sat straight up, feeling that Sara would be uncomfortable to find him sleeping in her hand when she woke. She stirred and then woke when Grissom called for whoever it was to come in.

The door opened with a little bang and a candy striper with a large cart of flowers came waltzing in with a clearly caffeinated and overly chipper "hellooooo".

She handed Sara a large bouquet of Black Eyed Susans, and left the room, they could have sworn she was skipping.

Grissom looked over at Sara but she was looking at the flowers with an almost scared look on her face. She was starting to shake a little, he could hear the cellophane rattling.

"Sara? What is it, who are they from?"

She hadn't read the card but she already knew who had sent them."

"They are from my ex-boyfriend, Chase, I know they are. Wait a minute, why am I in here? What happened to me? I can't believe I didn't ask that already."

Grissom explained what had happened, he was hesitant to tell her everything but he decided to because he didn't know what might trigger her memory.

Sara just sat stock still and occasionally nodded her head. When he was finished he asked to see the card. He read it aloud, it read:

**Sue:**

**I am sorry this had to happen, you just don't know what's good for you.**

**I hope you like the flowers, they are my favorites, but you knew that.**

**I hope you are feeling well soon so we can meet again.**

**Maybe this time you won't be so resistant.**

**You know what happens when you get like that.**

**See you soon.**

**Your Fiancé,**

**Chase**

Sara had tears running down her cheeks by the time he had finished reading. Grissom was deeply confused by a few things.

"Sara, he was your fiancé?"

"Yes, for about a week and then I broke it off with him, he hasn't accepted it I guess."

Why does he call you Sue? Is that your middle name? Or did you change your real name?"

"No- it was his sick nickname for me. The day before we started dating I had cut my wrists, I don't think I was trying to kill myself, I couldn't tell you exactly why I did it. But it was his way of getting control in a fight, he would tell me that I wanted to die before I met him. That's where he came up with the name."

"I still don't see how Sue comes into it."

"He thought he was so clever. He would call me Suicidal Sara Sidle. Eventually that became too much to call me, especially in public. So I knew I was going to be in trouble when he would start calling me Sue. Shortened from suicidal."

"Trouble? What do you mean? He hit you?"

"Yeah, not at the beginning but once it started it was frequent, like if he was out of some kind of food, it was my fault. And afterwards, he'd pretend to feel bad and would buy me flowers, but I knew he wasn't.

"How?"

"Because he always sent Black Eyed Susans, it was symbolic. Susan, long form of Sue. After one night I told him I was tired and didn't want to have sex that night, he raped me. I had restraining orders on him and eventually he went to jail. Guess he got out, huh?"

Sara was crying and shaking like mad now, and Grissom was doing his best to soothe her.

His mind was speeding. This explained so much of her behavior, especially her passion in sexual assault cases. His hatred of this Chase Gregory person had increased ten-fold, if that were even possible. It made sense though, In French, Chase meant hunter. And that was certainly what he was.

He comforted Sara until she fell asleep with him sitting next to her in her bed, arms wrapped around her back with her head resting on his chest. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Grissom registered how well she fit there, but he had bigger things to focus on at the moment.

Like how to get away with murder.

TBC

OK well I am sorry for the short chapter but like I said I hope to get up another one before I go back to school. YEAH UALBANY!! I know that this section was a little intense but it will get better. Let me know what you think. And BTW, this story isn't exactly going where you think it is. But R&R- should I keep on?? Hope you like it!!


	6. Nick

A/N: Thank you everyone so much for all the wonderful reviews you have been sending me. I'll try to get this up as soon as possible- whenever lets me upload! HAPPY TURKEY DAY ALL!! As my Sensei says, Eat a lot- It only comes once a year- besides- you'll work it off next class!!! (If anyone does martial arts, they understand that!)

I apologize for the appallingly short chapter, I promise to add more on Saturday!!!!

On with the show!

Chapter 5

When Sara awoke, she felt light, like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She felt safe and warm. As she came closer to consciousness, she realized that she was still in the arms of Gil Grissom. It was strange to her. Her mind did not know this man apart from any other, but her entire being, it felt, recognized him on a completely different level. She also felt that he did not tell her the entire truth about the extent of their involvement, because he was, after all, still sleeping in her bed, it had been 5 hours. Soon, she felt him stir and then wake. She looked at him looked right back. They both knew that they should say something, but neither quite knew what that was. At last, Sara smiled and spoke.

"Gil. Thank you… for staying with me… and for listening to me last night. It was really nice of you."

Grissom smiled as he got up from the bed. He straightened his rumpled clothing and ran a hand through his tousled hair.

"That's what friends do. I, um better go home and change and wash up. I'll be back in a little while. Will you be okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Besides I'm figuring that they will bring me some of that famed hospital food sometime soon. So if you want, you can sneak me in a cheeseburger or something."

Grissom looked at her strangely for a moment, Cheeseburger? Then it occurred to him, Sara only became a vegetarian after staying up all night on the Kaye Shelton case with him watching a pig decompose. She forgot that she didn't eat it now. Sara saw that he was perplexed and asked what was wrong.

"Well it's just that you became a vegetarian about three years ago. We stayed up on a case watching a pig decompose and you never ate meat again. But um, if you still want it I will see what I can do?"

"Oh, well, ok, maybe that's why I am so pale, ha. But um, no, I guess if have a cheeseburger I'll be mad at myself later on when I get my memory back."

"So then I should bring you a salad?"

"Oh, that would be great Gil, thank you."

The next three days came and passed quietly. The doctors kept Sara in the hospital since they didn't know what was causing her memory loss. Sara had seen everyone, and they all did their best to try and jog her memory but there was no progress. Sometimes she would have flashes of pictures when she saw one of the team. She could only assume that they were pieces of memories but out of context the meant nothing. The night shift was starting to wonder if she would ever regain her memories. One night, Nick and Warrick decided that it would be good for Sara to get out and about, they asked her doctor if they could take her for a walk around the grounds outside. He said it was fine as long as they brought her straight back if she felt any weakness or dizziness.

That morning after shift, they went over to the hospital to surprise her with the outing. They walked in and Sara wrinkled her nose.

"Oh, Nicky, I told you, that shirt is hideous, why didn't you just burn it? I haven't seen it in years."

The guys stood there looking back and forth between each other and Sara, their mouths totally agape.

"Sara, you remember that?" Nick managed to stammer out.

"Yes."

The guys were stunned. The rushed over to her and grabbed chairs to sit down in. This was amazing news.

"You got your memory back??" Warrick asked

Sara sat for a moment, she appeared to be thinking, or remembering, trying to anyway.

"I remember telling Nick that shirt was awful. I remember asking him if he liked leather or lace, it was lace if I remember correctly. I remember rappelling out of a helicopter to a corpse that was liquefied in a bag with Nick-"

"Wait," Warrick interrupted, "All these memories are with Nick. I was standing right there when you made that shirt comment, do you remember that?"

"Ummmm, no actually, I only remember Nick."

"Oh man, this is too strange. You have your partial memory. You remember Nick and no one else. What the hell is with that?"

Nick still looked pretty pensive. Sara looked confused and Warrick still looked a little hurt.

"Sara, you and I have never really been in a fight or at odds for the most part. Maybe you remember me because I involve the least painful memories? Also, we're pretty tight, I mean, you're pretty much my best friend, aside from Warrick here, that is."

Sara and Warrick thought this over. It did make sense. She was always on pretty good terms with Nick. They were like brother and sister. Although she and Warrick had become close over the years, they started out very much at odds, hardly able to work together. They nodded their heads in assent. They called in the doctor to tell hi of this new development. He was as confused as they were. His recommendation was for Sara to speak with a psychologist. Sara wasn't too keen on this idea, but if it would help her get the rest of her memories back, then she decided it was worth a shot.

The next hardest thing would be telling Grissom.

TBC

I know this was really short, but I wanted to post this before I went to sleep. Specifically because I just saw tonight's episode. WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?? How are they going to fix this??? I really am beginning to hate Eckley… and he's not even real!! They Do all have 7 year contracts… so they HAVE to fix this…right??


	7. Greg, Warrick, Brass

Disclaimer: Nothing has changed in the last 6 chapters- I still don't own anything or anyone from CSI :::sigh:::

A/N: I am so sorry about the wait between chapters. I have had THE worst case of writers' block known to man. UGH. But I think I am better now. ON here we go- I hope this chapter doesn't suck TOO much.

Greg, Warrick, Brass

Grissom sat in his office staring into space. He had just gotten off the phone with Warrick. Sara had parts of her memory back. Grissom had almost leapt for joy when he heard that. But then he learned that the only parts she got back were the ones that had Nick in them. He didn't know how to respond to that so he just thanked Warrick and took up his current position.

Nick? Why Nick? What did that mean? Are they involved? Had they been seeing each other and keeping it a secret? No. They were more brother and sister types than anything else. Everyone saw, even Grissom in his paranoid state could see that.

He called Warrick back to see if Sara was awake and ready for visitors. Shift was over and he didn't much feel like going home. And he missed Sara. Not just seeing her. He missed HER. The woman in the hospital just wasn't the same. Sara had grown so much in the almost 5 years she had been in Vegas. Now, even though he could see her, something was missing.

When he got to the hospital he found Sara packing up her clothes and several get well cards into a large duffel.

"They letting you out of here today?" Grissom asked as way of greeting.

Sara turned around, a little startled.

"Gil! Hi, yeah finally. I'm dying to know what my apartment looks like."

That was another difference between this Sara and the other version of her. She called him Gil. After he had insisted that she stop calling him Dr. Grissom she simply resorted to Gil. It was a little awkward hearing it come out of her mouth.

"I thought you were going to be here for another week. Why are they discharging you today?" Grissom asked

"Well, physically I am well enough to leave today. They are going to send a nurse, umm Lily, I think, to my place twice a week to keep tabs on whatever is going on inside my head." Sara replied, still packing

"Really? That was considerate of them.

"Yeeeeahhhh, well I think that they just kind of want me out of here. See, yesterday I promised bodily harm on the next nurse who tried to shove Jell-o down my throat."

Grissom chuckled for a minute. He stopped, though, when he noticed Sara looking strangely at him.

"What?"

"This is going to sound weird, but would you mind coming home with me? I think that I'd like someone familiar with me when I go. At least someone who knows where it is."

"Uh, sure, but why not Nick? I figured that since you only remember him that you'd be the most comfortable around him."

Grissom didn't want to tell her that he'd never actually been inside her apartment. Just the threshold when he had found her. That was the first time he had ever been past the front door.

"I do remember Nick, I love him, he's my best friend but…" she paused for a long moment and began studying her shoes.

"But a lot happened in that apartment and when I'm with you I feel…" She stopped again but Grissom encouraged her to go on by softly grasping the tips of her fingers.

"I feel… safe."

Grissom was almost knocked on his ass. She felt safer with him, a middle aged, better- but still not in shape, socially inept, old man, than with Nick, a charming, young, muscular, suave guy. It made no sense. But if that's what she wanted, that's what she got.

Grissom got Sara into his car and drove most of the trip in relatively comfortable silence. He often caught Sara looking at him with a confused expression like she was trying to place him in her memories. About 5 minutes away from her home she shook her head and appeared to give up for the moment. Grissom turned on the radio and to his surprise, Pink Floyd's Another Brick in the Wall was starting. He began slightly nodding his head to the beat and Sara hummed the melody. They reached Sara's building and clambered up the 4 flights of stairs to her unit.

Sara took her key out and took a deep breath before opening the door. As she turned the knob she felt Grissom's reassuring hand on the small of her back guiding her in. The apartment looked perfect. Not a thing out of place, Grissom noted. Even the orchid, that normally would have been thrown out by the clean up team was in a new pot by the door.

"_Catherine_" Grissom thought "_Of_ _course she would save the plant._"

Sara was just looking around, trying to take everything in. Grissom could see that her mind was working. Probably trying to reconcile what had happened that night, per Grissom's story; with her new surroundings. He saw her eyes run over the fresh plaster by the door, the couch, the window, and her bedroom door. She looked overwhelmed for just a moment before she composed herself. Grissom still stood in the threshold, not quite sure how to proceed. Sara took care of that for him by beckoning him into the kitchen area.

"Would you like something to drink? I'm sure I probably have something around here."

"Water would be great, thanks."

Sara scoured the cabinets for glasses and found a full Brita pitcher in the fridge. They talked for a while and ended up in her living room watching The Whole Nine Yards. Which they both found hysterical.

Eventually Grissom had to leave because he needed to head home to rest and change before the next shift. He made sure Sara would be okay by herself. She assured him that she would call him if she needed anything. Grissom paused at the door for a moment. He felt like he should say something or do something but he didn't quite know what that was.

Again, Sara solved the problem. She smiled broadly at him and stepped up to hug him in thanks. Grissom's arms didn't work immediately upon her embrace. He'd never been this close to her. So he stood there like an idiot with his arms at his sides. Just as she cleared her throat and began to move away, he regained control of his arms. Pulling her back to him and letting her head fall to rest on his shoulder. Her arms around his neck and his completely wrapped around her back, hands landing atop her ribs.

He could feel he even warm breaths upon his neck and his pulse increased and he felt flushed. He couldn't resist the urge to gently rub his cheek upon her hair and slowly caress her sides with his thumbs. After a few moments, he hesitantly gave the crown of her head a small kiss and pulled away. Finding it hard to meet her gaze, he murmured his goodbye and quietly slipped out the door.

After he had gone, Sara leaned up against the door and shook her head. She didn't understand it at all. He told her that they were simply friends. Well, not simply. But there wasn't a conventionally understood relationship between them. So why did she feel the way she did when she was near him? Why did is breathing speed up and his ears pink-en when she looked at him for longer than necessary? Why did she look at him for longer than necessary?

She looked to her right and saw a large orchid on a small table. The looked to be an old florists card still in the pot. She picked it up to read it and found it only said "from Grissom". Grissom, that was Gil.

"He sent me a plant? Ha, Just friends my ass."

She shook her head once again to clear her mind. If she kept up this line of thought she would surely get a headache. So she headed to her couch for some mind numbing television and a nap.

…………

Grissom's visits became a routine after every shift. Everyday he would come to her apartment. They would talk of frivolous things, watch movies and listen to music. Their tastes varied but Sara managed to get him into Josh Groban, Barenaked Ladies, and Ani DiFranco. In turn, she found she thoroughly enjoyed U2, Natalie Cole and even a little Tchaikovsky.

In 2 weeks, Sara was making progress. Grissom was there, 4 days after she came home when she realized she remembered Greg and randomly burst out laughing. Then a week later when she smacked a hand to her head and declared that she couldn't believe she was so bitchy to Warrick.

The boys were overjoyed when they found out. Greg in particular. He pretended to be indignant when Sara said she didn't remember their night of "mind blowing, earth shifting, amazing sex. Then of course he offered to do her a huge service by giving a repeat performance. This of course earned him a smack upside the head by Warrick.

The doctors were still confused as hell. They had never had a case of amnesia quite like this. They were fascinated.

Catherine and Brass just took it all in quietly. Seeing as she didn't "know" them yet, they thought it best to simply remain low profile.

Grissom was full of conflicting feelings. He was truly glad that her memory was returning but was a little hurt she still did not recall him before the attack. Especially with all the time they had been spending together recently.

The search for Chase Gregory was not going very well either. Brass had an All Points Bulletin put out the night of the attack. It had been 2 weeks and nothing yet. He also had not made any other attempts to contact Sara. Wherever Chase was, he wasn't leaving anytime soon.

It had been 18 days since Sara was attacked. The police still couldn't find Chase but Sara was doing better everyday. She was finally off the prescription pain killer and she was down to just Tylenol. She could walk with only a whisper of a limp and her bruises were fading quickly. Grissom even let her visit the lab after shift that day. He left an hour before shift was over to go pick her up. The whole ride, Sara wore a tiny knowing smile that made him wonder, but he didn't ask.

They got to the lab and he walked slowly around with Sara, reintroducing her with everyone and all the rooms. He saw her wince a touch when she walked past Greg's lab. But as soon as it was there it was gone again. Making him wonder if he actually saw it. Just then, they saw Brass walking down the hall towards them. Sara regained her wicked smile as he approached. He said hi to Grissom as he came to a stop in front of them. He then looked at Sara, unsure how to act. Sara just smiled and piped up brightly.

"Hi Brass. How are you?"

"I'm doing okay kiddo. It's a slow night so I figured I'd hang out in the lab. The air conditioning works better here than back at the station."

Sara chuckled with him and nodded.

"Yeah, so um, how's Ellie? Talk to her lately?"

"I have actually, she's doing great. Much better than when you…wait, how'd you know about her?"

Brass looked to Grissom. He just shook his head in response to the silent question of if he had told her. Realization hit and they both spun back to look at Sara, who was now grinning like the Cheshire cat.

"What's my name?"

"Jim Brass, well James really,"

"Occupation?"

"Homicide detective, LVPD, formerly supervisor of the CSI night shift."

"Where am I from?"

"Jersey, but really that one's obvious."

Brass just smiled and pulled Sara into a big bear hug and even spun her around once. Causing her to lapse into a fit of uncharacteristic giggles. Grissom quickly decided that a Sara Sidle giggle was the most beautiful sound in the world.

"Come on, this calls for coffee- the good stuff. Let's go steal some of Greg's stash." Brass said

Sara nodded and turned to face Grissom

"Are you coming Gil?"

"I'll be right there, I need to stop in my office for a minute." He supplied

He turned and headed straight for his office. Once there he dropped into his chair and cradled his head in his hands. After a few moments he heard someone enter. He knew it was Catherine by the distinctive heel- clicking sounds on the floor.

"I heard the news. I guess it's down to us huh? We're the ones that pissed her off the most." Catherine said with a smile

"Yeah." Grissom sighed heavily "I don't really wonder which one of us will be next either."

He looked up suddenly

"You know what? Screw it. I don't think I want Sara to remember me at all."

TBC- Feel free to feedback me

WHAT WAS WITH THAT SCENE IN THURSDAY'S SHOW??? AHHHHH!!! WHY DIDN'T SHE LET HIM TALK!?!

Also- I was not paid to use any of the names: Jell-o, Pink Floyd, Brita, The Whole Nine Yards, Josh Groban, Barenaked Ladies, Ani DiFranco, U2, Natalie Cole, Tchaikovsky, or Tylenol. Although- now that I think about- that's an awful lot of free product placement. Maybe I SHOULD be getting paid.


	8. Catherine

A/N: Again- I apologize for the wait between chapters. I actually have the entire suite here all to myself so there is a lot of time for me to work on this. Anyway- I promised my friend Angela that she would appear in this story and this is her chapter. She's Lily. So sorry to anyone who is a Catherine/Warrick Shipper but promises are promises.

"Gil, What are you talking about? How can you say that? I thought you cared about her. How can-" Catherine started ranting.

"Catherine calm down! I don't mean it like that. I mean, I do, but not quite." Grissom stuttered.

"Well, what DO you mean then?"

"Cath, look at her, she's happy. I mean really happy. Laughing, smiling, joking. When was the last time you saw her like that? Not for 3 years, easily. Maybe it's just better that she doesn't remember me. She's better off that way. And we get along so well now."

Grissom looked down at his desk as he finished his thoughts. Catherine just huffed a chuckle at her friend's delusions.

"Gil, do you think she's really completely happy? She can't be. She's still missing parts of her life. They may not all be pleasant parts but they are still part of who she is. How happy do you think she could really be? Yeah, you get along now, but you got along fine before. The only reason you two aren't blissfully happy with 9 kids and a dog is because you refuse to let yourself be human. Look buddy, I watched you two before and I watch you two now. The only difference now is that the complete adoration in her eyes isn't hidden, or covered by anger for whatever argument you two are currently in. And you don't avoid looking at her, afraid she'll figure out what you oh-so-obviously feel."

Catherine had to stop here and catch her breath. Grissom was looking at her with an expression akin to awe and confusion on his face.

"What?' he asked, perplexed.

Catherine threw her arms up in defeat.

"FORGET IT!" she yelled "I give up Gil, it's all on you now. I tried, I really did, but I just give."

With that she spun on her heel and almost ran from the office. After she'd gone Grissom just shook his head.

"_What was she talking about? Sara would never marry me. I'm too much of a screw up."_ He thought to himself resignedly _"Or would she?"_

Grissom sighed a large sigh and stood up to find his friends in the break room.

The next couple of days went much the same. Sara would visit after work and get herself reacquainted with the lab and the people. She still didn't remember Catherine or Grissom. A fact that he still agonized over.

Although Sara was recovering quickly, she was still prone to small dizzy spells. This of course prompted the team to take over small tasks for her. No matter how menial. This is why Warrick's legs were currently sticking out from under Sara's Denali like the Wicked with of the East from under Dorothy's house. Sara had to laugh at the notion of Warrick in red sparkly pumps.

There was a knock on Sara's door and she went to answer it. It turned out to be Lily, her nurse. Sara greeted her and invited her in. She was pretty okay physically but the doctors were going to keep sending Lily over until Sara regained all of her memories.

They were sitting in the kitchen having the tea that Catherine had brought over with a box of scones from the bakery the night before. Warrick walked into her apartment and called out to her.

"Sara? I'm done but do you have a big shirt I can borrow? Your stupid truck spit oil at me, twice."

Sara and Lily walked out to see him standing in her living room staring at the oils stains on his tank, as if that would make them disappear. He looked up and saw Sara trying to suppress a giggle and Lily staring right at his (A/N: very, VERY fine) chest. He held his ruined shirt up in a late show of modesty. After all, Sara had seen him without his shirt on at crime scenes when he lost rock paper scissors to Nick. But Lily was another story.

"Sure, Warrick, hold one." And she left to find him a shirt. Grinning all the way.

Lily and Warrick stood in the living room, neither really knowing what to say. This was the 4th time they'd met, and truth be told they had little crushes on one another. Lily turned and walked back into the kitchen. Warrick exhaled and slumped onto Sara's couch.

He heard footsteps approaching him. He looked up to see Lily standing over him with a big glass of ice water. She handed it to him and watched appreciatively as he downed it. He handed the glass back to her and smiled almost bashfully. The two kept their eyes locked for a long moment. This was the scene that Sara walked into, bearing a huge Harvard T-Shirt. She stopped at the room's threshold and cleared her throat to announce her presence.

They both immediately found other, more fascinating things to look at. Sara chucked the shirt at Warrick's head, where it flopped unceremoniously over his eyes. This caused giggles to erupt from both women, and another sigh from Warrick. Sara and lily went back in the kitchen to do Sara's 'session' and Warrick went out to clean up his tools.

An hour later they were all sitting in her living room with cold beers just laughing and talking. Sara excused herself to the bathroom and when she returned, Warrick was gathering his things and Lily had a lovely look on her face.

Warrick gave Sara a quick hug and she gave him a kiss on the cheek and thanks for fixing her car. After he'd gone, she turned to Lily, who still had that lovely look firmly in place.

"Well missy, what's that all about." Sara asked with mock accusation.

"What's what about?" Lily played the fool to perfection.

"That look on your face. And not to mention the one on Warrick's face." She shot back as she picked up the empty beer bottles.

"Oh, Well ummm, I have a date with Warrick tomorrow night." She couldn't contain the smile as she said so.

Sara just smiled along with her and brought the bottles back to the kitchen and wondered why she felt so lonely all of a sudden.

25 days after Sara's attack, Chase was nowhere to be found. It was really getting to everyone. They all knew that he was out there. Waiting for the most opportune time to strike. It wouldn't be anytime soon though. Both Sara's building and her apartment were under 24 hour surveillance. No one got in that building from any entrance without the cops knowing. A week ago, they almost accosted Sara's pizza guy. She was pretty sure she'd never see him delivering to her building again.

Sara walked back to the small table that Catherine was seated at in the lab. A game of scrabble set before them. Sara resumed her seat and picked up her tiles. It was an hour after shift but everyone was still hanging out at the lab. Whether working or relaxing after a case, as Catherine was.

Sara put down her word, 'Montana'.

Catherine gave her a look but Sara seemed preoccupied with counting the points that she got. Catherine laid down 'postal' and tallied her points. This was followed by Sara's 'stripper' and she let out a little whoop at the bonus she got for using all her tiles.

Catherine: 'murder'.

Sara: 'single'

Catherine: 'gleam'

Sara: 'mother'

Catherine: 'rotary'

Sara: 'casino'

Catherine: 'evict'

Sara put down 'Eddie' and looked up at Catherine. She could see the gears turning in the blondes head. She saw the exact moment that the light bulb went off in her mind. Catherine then jumped up from the table and pointed at Sara.

"You can't use proper names, you cheat! You're lucky I let you keep Montana. I mean really, if you are going to let me know that you remember me, then at least play by the rules!"

They both burst out laughing and hugged each other. Grissom walked in, drawn by the commotion.

"What's going on in here?" he asked

"Oh nothing that important." Catherine insisted "Oh, hey, Sara remembers me but you know, who really cares about that."

Sara swatted her arm and they laughed some more. Again Grissom decided it was the best sound in the world. Made him all the more appreciate of the fact that his surgery had worked. Then his brain registered what had just been revealed to him.

"Well that's great Sara! Excellent. I'm happy. You're doing very well. Good, then."

With that he turned and left the room with two very deflated women standing in it.

Sara turned to Catherine and asked with a small waver in her voice.

"What, did I do something wrong? Is he mad at me?"

Catherine smiled a bit and put her arm around her shoulders.

"No, you didn't do anything sweetie. I just think that he's a little upset that you don't remember him yet."

"But I try! I really try! We spend a lot of time together and I feel this connection to him but I just can't place him in my mind. I don't know what else to do. I don't want him to be upset, it's not his fault, it's mine."

Sara was nearing tears as she finished her statement. Catherine tried to explain that it wasn't her fault, that she had no control over it, but Sara just apologized and said she had to leave.

She headed straight for Grissom's office but found that he had already left. She let her head fall onto the wall as she thought about her situation. She wanted to go and find him but she didn't have a car and she couldn't exactly ask Cath or the guys to drive around aimlessly for hours. She was still in that position when Greg found her and offered to give her a lift home. She accepted and they left.

Meanwhile, Grissom was driving back to his townhouse. His mind was whirling.

"_Okay, so now it's down to me. It's been almost a month now, I never realized how badly I must have been hurting her. Her mind is really trying to protect her from me. What the Hell am I going to do?"_ Grissom wondered wildly

He arrived at his home and braked hard into his parking space. He grabbed his briefcase and slammed the truck's door, taking his anger our on the vehicle. He stormed his way up to his front door, jammed the key in the lock, entered and slammed that door shut too.

Maybe if he hadn't been so distracted he might have noticed the black sedan that had been following him since he left the lab. Or the man inside the car, with is short blonde hair covered by a hat and sunglasses covering his features.

Chase Gregory smiled evilly and slowly pulled away from the curb across the street from Grissom's home.

TBC

Hey all- The muse hit me and I got this chapter written in one night- which is a huge accomplishment for me and my self diagnosed A.D.D. I probably used more scrabble letters than they actually have but hey, this is the magical wonderful land where Everything works out nicely and Grissom DID NOT ASK OUT SOPHIA-BITCH in a pathetisad attempt to forget Sara. NOT GONNA HAPPEN BUDDY!


	9. Gil

Disclaimer: STILL own nothing- and you can bet that if I did- we'd have some damn resolution already. I digress, anyway- I didn't take quite as long with this chapter but it was still while. So for anyone still reading this thing, just know that I appreciate all the nice and encouraging reviews and this story will be over soon. Maybe within the next 2 chapters or so. Ummmmm, IS there anyone still reading this…? Helloooo?

* * *

Once inside his home, Grissom let himself collapse onto the bed. He could feel a migraine setting in but he couldn't bring himself to get up for his medication. Sara was improving everyday, but he couldn't help but feel less than optimistic about her regaining memories of him. He let his mind wander for a while over the possibilities of what he would do if she didn't.

Once he zoned back in, he realized he'd been laying there for an hour. His headache, infinitely worse, demanded attention. Grissom got up, took his medicine, had a quick shower and let himself go to sleep early. He'd worry about food later.

Sara wandered aimlessly around her apartment for a long time. Her mind was still foggy. It seemed that the more she tried to focus on remembering something, the more elusive it became. And for someone whose mind was their livelihood, this was worrisome.

Eventually she forced herself to sit down on the couch, her eyes still roaming the room. Her gaze fell on the door. It now had three locks on it; the door's own lock, a deadbolt and a chain. Over time, she was able to recall the events of the night in complete detail. Sometimes she would become uncomfortable being there alone but then she would remind herself of the constant surveillance and she'd feel better.

Earlier that day, her doctor had told her that she could return to work next week. She was indescribably excited about that. Even as a child, she was never able to sit still for any amount of time. So trying to find things to do around her apartment for nearly a month was difficult at best. Work would give her someplace to put her energy. Even if she **was** restricted to lab duty. It was better than nothing. Since it was Wednesday now, she just had to wait 4 days until she was back in action, so to speak.

"_And who knows" _she thought_ "maybe being back at work will jog my memories of Gil. I mean after all, he's the reason that I am in this field anyway- WAIT! Why do I know that? No one told me that."_

Sara searched her mind frantically for any more information but she just couldn't get a grip on anything. She gave up but considered that a small victory.

* * *

The next 2 work days went by in a blur for Grissom. He never even went home. The night shift had started taking on new cases again last week. There wasn't any more forensic work that could be done on Sara's or Dante Liguori's cases, that was all up to the police now.

Grissom didn't have a hard case at the moment. He had three separate small ones. Only one of which was a homicide and that was a slam dunk. He just didn't want to be at his home. There was nothing for him to do there.

He'd never felt that way about his home before. It was his sanctuary. Now it just felt empty, unfulfilling. When he was there, all he did was sit around and think about Sara. Not even his bugs could hold his interest there for long. The silence of his townhouse sounded thunderous in his ears. So he avoided it like the plague.

Grissom had been sitting in his office for three hours, doing nothing, when he decided he was being ridiculous.

"_What is wrong with me? I am a grown man. I should be able to be in my own home and find something to do. Sara will work things out in her own time and everything will be just fine. I hope."_

With that, Grissom got up, gathered up his things and headed home. He was determined to do something productive today. Start training his roaches again, go grocery shopping, wash his sheets, anything to make himself feel useful.

Sara was positively giddy. Two more days and she could go back to work. She was sitting in her apartment, listening to her stereo and going over the contents of her kit for the 40th time in the last 2 days. She knew she had everything that she needed but she just liked going through it.

For the first time she noticed that she was low on duct tape. She decided to run to the supermarket and grab some. She even took pleasure in doing that because it was only recently that she had been allowed to start driving again.

She reached the supermarket and stated scouring the aisles for the tape.

"Sara?" A voice from behind her startled her, making her jump a bit.

"Gil, jeez, don't sneak up on a girl like that."

"Sorry" Grissom replied, his cheeks lightly tinted pink, "What are you doing here?"

"I needed more duct tape for my kit, you know, I start work again on Monday." She responded "Why are you here?"

Grissom smiled "I'm grocery shopping, Sara"

He nodded to his cart, which was filled with milk, lettuce, flour, eggs, bacon, bread, coffee beans, cold cuts, yogurt, veggies, muffins, and Count Chocula cereal, of all things. Sara picked up the box of cereal and quirked and eyebrow at him.

"Gil, really, if you're gonna eat this, why not just buy a bag of sugar and pour that into your mouth instead?"

Grissom's ears turned pink to match his cheeks. Sara found this utterly adorable. He took the box from her and plunked it back down into the cart.

"Oh shush, I like it. Lindsey does, too. So I keep it around for when she and Catherine come over." Grissom blurted.

"Oh." Sara said quietly.

She didn't know why but she felt a little disheartened after he said that. As far as she knew, there had never been anything between Catherine and Gil but the thought of the three of them sitting around his table eating breakfast like a little family made her chest tighten uncomfortably. She looked down and saw the stacks of duct tape on the bottom shelf. She grabbed two quickly and popped back up. Forced smile firmly in place.

"Ok, well, I found my tape so I guess I will get going. I t was good to see you, Gil." She started off down the aisle.

It was the 'Gil' that got him. She'd been calling him that for a month and it still didn't sound right. He had always dreamed of her calling him by his first name but somehow now he wanted her back to calling him 'Grissom'. 'Gil' didn't sound right on her tongue when she had no memories of him, if that made any sense at all. He had to do something to get his old Sara back.

"Sara! Wait." He called after her.

She stopped and turned around to look at him, a questioning look on her face.

"Would you, ah, would you like to have breakfast with me? I know a really good diner around the corner." He asked

"I'd love to Gil. But won't your food spoil?" She returned.

Grissom looked at the cart and frowned. He hadn't thought of that.

"It's ok, maybe some other time-" Sara started

"No! I mean um, no. Why don't we go to my place and I'll cook instead. I mean if you don't mind. I mean I understand if you don't want to. I mean-"

He was cut off by Sara's slender hand covering his mouth. He inhaled softly and could smell the mixture of hand soap and lotion. Smelled like Dial and maybe vanilla.

"Gil, stop. That's fine. Actually it's better. Let's go."

She let her hand linger a moment longer then dropped it slowly to her side.

Grissom smiled and pushed his cart towards the registers at the front of the store. He also swiped the rolls of duct tape from Sara's grip and dropped them into the basket.

"Gil!" Sara exclaimed.

Grissom just gave her an 'oh please' look and she gave in.

* * *

After depositing the assorted groceries on Grissom's breakfast bar, Sara took to looking around the townhouse. She somehow knew that it was a big deal that she was in his home. Even without having her memories of him, she'd gathered that he was a private man. She took her time, perusing the titles of the books on his shelves, ranging from classics, to science journals, to modern novels.

Grissom busied himself in the kitchen making eggs, pancakes from scratch and fruit bowls. He didn't know what Sara might be in the mood for.

They enjoyed their meal and talked of menial things; movies, books, and music. They even got into a mock- heated debate over which band was better, The Rolling Stones or Aerosmith. Grissom finally conceded that Aerosmith was better but only because when Sara was laughing and smiling like that he couldn't formulate coherent arguments.

After breakfast, they decided to watch a movie. Silence of the Lambs was in the DVD player to they went with that. Sara jumped at one particularly disturbing scene and Grissom took her hand to calm her. After a few moments, though, he couldn't bring himself to relinquish the hold. So they remained that way, fingers intertwined, Grissom's thumb lightly stroking the back of her hand every so often. They still hadn't let go of each other's hand even as he walked Sara to her car.

"Thanks for breakfast, Gil. It was really sweet of you. I'll have to return the favor sometime." Sara said

"You cook?" Grissom asked, surprised.

"Um, no. BUT, from now on I promise to have my apartment nicely stocked with Count Chocula, just for you" She returned with a wink.

Grissom laughed and on impulse pulled her closer and planted a small kiss right at the corner of her mouth. He would let her decide where he'd intended it to go, her lips or her cheek. One of the few tricks he'd learned from his experiences in dating.

When he pulled back, Sara looked confused, but not at all upset. She smiled at him and gave his hand one last squeeze before releasing it to get in her SUV. She waved as she drove away slowly and Grissom returned to his house. Upon entering his kitchen, Grissom saw that Sara had left her duct tape on the counter. He smiled and picked it up. He'd give it to her at work on Monday.

After driving for a few minutes Sara realized she left her tape at Grissom's. She was not too far away yet so she decided to go back and get it. Besides, she never got tired of seeing him.

There was a knock on Grissom's door. He swung it open without even checking, he figured it was Sara coming back for her tape.

"Did you forget-" Grissom's words died on his lips when he was met with the barrel of a gun in his face, and just beyond that, the hateful cold stare of Chase Gregory.

TBC

Sorry doods! I swear this is almost done! Please don't stop reading. I really promise to get these chapters out faster! I SWEAR! PLEASE REVIEW! I live off these tiny things!


	10. Grissom

Ok- Here is the second to last chapter. These are going to be short so I should be done quickly- PLEASE keep reviewing- I Heart encouragement!

* * *

There was a knock on Grissom's door. He swung it open without even checking, he figured it was Sara coming back for her tape.

"Did you forget-" Grissom's words died on his lips when he was met with the barrel of a gun in his face, and just beyond that, the hateful cold stare of Chase Gregory.

* * *

Chapter 9

Grissom's eyes widened as he was nudged back inside his home. One side of Chase's mouth hitched up in a devious smirk, but his eyes screamed rage with such passion it made Grissom shiver.

"What the hell do you think you are doing with her? She is MINE! MY fiancé. She belongs to me. You stay the hell away from her." Chase snarled

Grissom closed his eyes for a brief moment and breathed in deeply.

"She is NOT yours, she can see whomever she likes."

Chase growled and brought back his arm.

"SHE IS MINE!"

He brought his hand back and pistol-whipped Grissom right across the face. Grissom felt the blood coming from his mouth and nose. He stumbled and steadied himself on his counter. He shook his head to try to clear away the fogginess that seemed to be overtaking his mind.

Chase stood regarding him for a long while, gun still aimed directly at his head.

"Do you think she loves you, old man? Do you think she will care when your brains are plastered all over these walls? She doesn't, and she won't. She loves ME. That little whore is just playing with you."

Grissom's eyes flared with anger and he brought himself to stand at full height.

"Sara is NOT a whore."

He slammed his body into Chase's chest and managed to get a few good punches in before he felt the gun pound repeatedly into the side of his head, knocking him to the floor. Chase stood over him, resetting the aim at Grissom's head.

"Why are you doing this? She DOESN'T. LOVE. YOU. Get with it man. You don't know her like I do. No one does. She would be dead if it wasn't for me. I SAVED her. She would be NOTHING without me."

Chase stared at Grissom for a while, he was slumped on the floor against his counter, struggling to remain conscious. Chase laughed.

"How strange to finally meet you. The 'great' Gil Grissom. Sara would talk about you for hours if she could after that class you taught at her stupid school. Only way to get her to shut up was to shove a sock in her mouth and bang her til' she passed out."

Grissom could feel his pulse climbing to dangerous heights. He was nauseous from his injury and from the thought of Chase touching Sara that way. He tried to get up again but was swiftly met with Chase's combat boot crashing against his ribs.

Chase cocked the gun and sneered at Grissom.

"It's over old man. She belongs to ME."

The sound of the gunshot was deafening and the smell of the powder made Grissom's stomach churn…

"…_Wait…"_ Grissom thought _"If I can smell than…"_

He looked up to see Chase with a look of utter shock and pain written across his face. He looked down at his chest to see blood beginning to seep through his dirty white tee shirt. As he dropped his gun and fell to his knees, the top of Sara's body and the gun she held in her extended hands came into Grissom's view.

She walked over in front of Chase pointed her gun at his head.

"I BELONG to myself." She said through gritted teeth.

Another shot rang out and Chase's body fell to the floor and a pool of blood began forming around him.

Sara put down her gun and turned to look at Grissom. Her expression panicked she dropped to the floor in front of him her hands on his head, trying to stopped the vast bleeding there.

"Oh my God, Gil! Are you alright?"

Grissom tried to respond but found that it was all he could do to just keep his head up and looking at her. Sara ripped a piece of Chase's shirt off and pressed it to Grissom's head with one hand. With the other she took out her cell phone and called for an ambulance.

As soon as she was off the phone she returned her attention to Grissom.

"Gil, I am so sorry. I should have known that he would come after you. I'm sorry, I didn't- I couldn't- You just, you're going to be okay I promise, the ambulance is going to be here any minute, okay?"

Grissom just looked at her and raised her hand slowly up to his face, He pressed her palm to his lips and kissed it just before his eyes closed and he passed out.

Sara just held him as the EMT's came through the open door. They almost had to pry her off of him. After they had taken him down to the ambulance, Brass came in to find her. She wanted to go to the hospital immediately but he insisted that there was nothing she could do there yet. He convinced her to go home and get cleaned up. He'd send someone with her and they would take her to the hospital when she was done.

Brass decided that he could wait until later to get her statement and find out exactly what happened with Chase. Although he was pretty sure he already knew. He knew it was a good shooting. Nevertheless everything had to be documented and processed exactly by the book.

* * *

Sara went home and went straight to the shower after the officer assured her he'd be waiting outside her apartment door. She stood for a moment before undressing and stared at herself in the mirror.

She was a sight.

He clothes were all tousled and she had Grissom's blood on her hands, and arms, and spray from Chase on her clothing and her neck. She quickly stripped and put the clothes in a pile in the corner. She knew Jim would want them later.

She jumped into the shower and scrubbed at her skin until all the blood was gone but she was red and raw. She sat down under the spray and let it pound on her back for a few moments, trying to compose herself.

She still didn't know what these bits of memory she had of Gil meant. She couldn't understand why she could not remember him. She did understand how she could have these feelings. That she was able to kill another human being- regardless that it was Chase, for a man that she couldn't recall. She could only imagine the depth of feeling that she had for this man before she was attacked.

Suddenly the need to see him was overpowering. She got out of the shower and hurriedly got dressed and only half dried her hair. If it wasn't chilly outside she wouldn't have bothered at all.

On her way out she stopped when she saw the huge orchid sitting on her hallway table. All of a sudden her mind was filled with sounds and images.

"Grissom? Come tie me up?"

"Cite your source."

"Oh, now you wanna go down that route?"

"Yeah"

"Ahh No, uh uh."

"YOU started it!"

"Since when have you been interested in beauty?"  
"Since I met you."

"What's your pulse at now?"

"Sara, I don't know what to do about this."

"I do."

"Pin me down."

"The only time we touch other people is when we are wearing our latex gloves."

"I haven't seen you in a while, have I?"

"You see me everyday."

Sara fell to her knees and braced her hands on the carpeted floor in front of her. The barrage of images wouldn't stop; neither would the flow of tears down her cheeks. It was so intense, it felt like her head was filled up to much. But she didn't want it to stop. Everything was clicking into place finally. And for the first time in a month, she didn't feel lost. Everything made sense.

When her mind finally stopped whirling she stood immediately, dried her eyes, and strode out of her apartment. She needed to see Grissom NOW.

The drive to the hospital was short and, mercifully, the young officer didn't try to speak with her, he just told her what room Grissom was in now and let her out at the door closest to it.

Sara practically ran to room number 13-04. Grissom lay motionless and pale against the dull sheets. She sat in the chair next to him and took his hand gently in hers. It was warm and heavy. Sara laid her head on his chest, her ear over his heart, listening to the strong beat and to the constant beep of the heart monitor.

She released his hand and draped her arm over his mid section, just to feel his body rise and fall with each breath. She heard him move and take in a breath deeper than before. She sat up a bit and saw him open his eyes and turn to look at her. She didn't bother to swipe away the few tears that escaped from her eyes.

"Hey, How you feeling?" She asked quietly.

Grissom looked at her and cocked his head a little to the side his eyebrows furrowed in a way that made Sara nervous. What he said next nearly made her pass out. In a strained voice, he whispered-

"Who are you?"

Sara blinked hard and felt her heart drop to the very pit of her stomach. She kept her eyes on Grissom and saw the corner of his mouth twitch up just the slightest bit.

He was joking.

Sara let out a half sob half laugh as more tears escaped.

"God, Don't do that to me, Grissom"

Grissom silently mouthed 'I'm sorry' and grasped her hand. After a few minutes Sara found her voice and looked up at him to find him staring at her intently with a knowing smile on his face.

"What?"

"You called me Grissom just then."

Sara was confused for only a moment before realizing that he knew she remembered him. She told him about the plant and about how all of it came rushing back and that she could now recall every wonderful, terrible moment of her life.

"Grissom, I wanted to thank you for being so wonderful this past month. You were a great friend. I will never forget that. Chase ruined my life twice, you, you gave me the strength to stop him from doing it a third time and I love you for that."

Sara stopped abruptly and looked at Grissom. She expected there to be shock and fear in his eyes. She expected to literally see the doors around him slam shut and have him pretend like he never heard that.

'Grissom' and 'love' in the same sentence was not something Sara was used to saying out loud. But to her surprise, he just looked right back at her, just looking a little confused, and grasped her hand tighter.

"You love me."

It was as much a question as it was a statement. Sara laughed and shook her head.

"You know, for such brilliant man, you are quite dense Gil Grissom."

She took a deep breath before she dove in.

"Yes, I love you. Even when I didn't remember you and my world was upside down, everything was a mess and I still loved you. What do you say to that?"

Grissom paused, clearly readying himself for what he was about to do.

"I… I love you… Sara. And… I'm sorry for everything I have done to hurt you, I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you from Chase, and I'm sorry I was a stupid ass and pretended I knew what was best for you. So, when I get out of here… would you… be interested in having dinner with me?"

Sara took his hand and slowly kissed the palm of it just as he had done to hers.

"Yes."

And finally, after a month, Grissom saw the full out Sara Sidle 100 megawatt smile that he fell in love with so many years ago.

TBC

* * *

OK- After this there is just one more chapter- it's pretty much an epilogue but COME ON- They haven't even kissed yet and I just can't leave it at that. I know the end of this chapter is a little OOC but I honestly have no idea how they could admit they love each other. So I just guessed. Hope it wasn't too bad. REVIEW PLEASEEEEEEEEE!

And if that waking up moment seemed a little familiar it's because I kinda stole it from the X-Files… :Sigh: I miss that show… At least THEY got together at the end:)


	11. Epilogue

A/N- Ok guys this is going to be the very last chapter in this story! Thanks for all the wonderful reviews and encouragement to anyone who is still reading this.! I kinda forgot about it for a while!

Epilogue

Grissom was released from the hospital in 2 days because all he had was a small concussion and a few bruised ribs. He and Sara decided to wait about a week for their 'date' so he could be fully recuperated. It seemed like a good idea at the time but now that Grissom had to wait that long, it didn't.

Every day that passed brought more and more doubts into his head. They were the same old nagging doubts that had always hounded him, the age difference, his lack of social skills, Sara's emotions, work, so on and so forth.

It was as if Sara knew this was going to happen. She made it a point to see him everyday and just talk- about anything, about nothing, it didn't matter. She knew that he would start to get nervous and second guess himself but she wasn't going to allow it to get to the point where he backed out.

Finally the day of their date arrived. They both woke up with apprehension and excitement in equal doses. It was a Saturday night so neither of them were working and they were able to go out in the evening like the rest of the people in Vegas.

Grissom thought of calling and canceling at least a half a dozen times. But each time he thought of that thousand watt smile and its owner and just found himself getting more and more eager to begin the date.

Sara was floating. She was a wreck. She was a floating wreck. She didn't know where they were going so she didn't know what to wear. Her hair had a mind of its own and would not do anything besides curl up and get in her eyes. After a while she just gave up.

Grissom arrived at Sara's apartment 20 minutes early and hesitantly knocked on her door. He picked at an imaginary piece of lint on his pale blue shirt as he waited for her to answer. He heard a muffled "its open" from within the walls and slowly made his way in. Sara emerged from the bedroom struggling to get on her second low strappy sandal with a smile on her face.

"I hope I'm dressed okay, you didn't say where we were going." She said

"You look very nice, that's perfect." Grissom replied as he took in her outfit

Sara had decided to simply wear a pair of black pedal pushers and a vee-neck lavender sleeveless top. Grissom was wearing his usual of khakis and polo shirt. They stood standing looking each other over for a minute or two. When their eyes finally met they smiled, mutually acknowledging the fact that they had both been completely ogling the other.

"Well, are you ready to get going?" Sara asked nervously

Grissom nodded and they moved to the door both reaching it at the same awkwardly bumping into each other while reaching for the doorknob. They laughed nervously and suddenly Grissom smiled a little and turned Sara to face him. He pushed one of the ever errant curls out of her face and behind her ear. Sara gave him a curious look.

"So this isn't awkward all night-" He said simply

And with that he leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers in a kiss that was just what she imagined their first kiss would be. Gentle at first, just the little pressure of his lips on hers. As he felt her respond he deepened it, covering her whole mouth with his and placing his hands on the sides of her face, slowly stroking her cheekbones. Sara responded in kind, placing her hands on Grissom's biceps and slowly sliding them up to his shoulders, his neck, and eventually landing in his hair and letting her fingers discover the texture of it.

Eventually they pulled away from one another but it seemed that their lips didn't want to part because they kept coming back together for several chaste kisses. Grissom let his hands drop to the small of her back and let his fingertips rest on the warm skin there. His lips skated over her face, placing feather-light kisses anywhere he could. Her cheeks, her eyes, her forehead. Sara let out a deep shaky exhale and looked up at him. They smiled at each other and finally stepped apart.

"I figured that if we didn't do that now we would be nervous all night and then we wouldn't be able to enjoy the date." Grissom explained

"I like your logic." Sara answered

"And also I just really wanted to kiss you." He added with a smile

Sara blinked, she was going to have to get used to this new open Grissom. Not that she didn't love it.

"Well, good to know. Um, are you ready to go now?"

Grissom just smiled wider and nodded. Strangely pleased hat he had unnerved her. They walked to the car and Sara continued to pester him about where they were going but he refused to tell her. Finally Grissom pulled up to small amusement park with a few rides and one rather large roller coaster. Sara laughed.

"This is where you're taking me on out first big date, Gris? A rinky dink amusement park?" she teased gently

"Actually this is just the first stop. I am planning on cooking you dinner at my place and then there is a small outdoor orchestral concert in a park nearby after this but I figured that roller coasters AFTER meals aren't usually good ideas. Plus, I love roller coasters." Grissom replied as they walked towards the entrance

Sara grinned.

"You're smart." She stated simply in a childlike tone

As they were on line for the coaster, Sara started to fidget.

"What's wrong?" Grissom asked

"Nothing." She replied quickly

"Sara."

"Ugh- I'm terrified of roller coasters. Actually, the last time I was on one, it was one of those loopy numbers, I got sick. And I always feel like I'm going to fall out." Sara supplied

Grissom pulled her to his side and put his arm around her shoulders and kissed her temple.

"Well, this is a very safe roller coaster, there are NO loops, just dips, you can't fall out, and even if you could, I wouldn't let you. But if you don't want to go on it, we won't."

Sara looked at him for a moment, pursed her lips then nodded.

"Okay, I'm in." she replied, and smiled reassuringly

Grissom looked at her happily and raised a finger to her cheek at the edge of her smile.

"I love your dimples." He confessed and pressed a kiss to said dimple

Sara cocked her head and again had to remind herself that she would be getting a lot more of this honesty now and would have to get used to it.

"Um, thanks, Gris."

They finally got to the front where the cars where and Grissom insisted that the first seats were always the best so that is where they sat. Since it wasn't a roller coaster with loops there was only a lap bar. After Sara, Grissom, and the attendant had all checked to make sure it was secure, Sara was placated. As the car left the platform, Grissom looked nervously over at her.

"You know that you're stuck with me now, Sara. I mean, you don't even know all of my weird habits yet, but… this is …it… for me."

"Griss, you think that I hung around for all these years just to leave because you snore?"

"I don't snore." He replied

"Oh good because I was actually kidding, that was a deal breaker." She jokingly responded

The roller coaster had now begun to climb the huge hill leading to the first drop of the ride. The clicking of the chain could be heard ominously from the ground. Grissom turned to Sara seriously.

"Honey, I mean it, what if you find you don't like me once you know all my annoying facets? I leave the toilet seat up."

"I leave it down" she countered

"I drink out of the carton" he said

"I watch reality TV ALL the time." She shot back

"I listen to country music." He replied

"I never wear shoes or socks in my house." Sara threw out

"That's weird."

"HEY!"

They were almost at the top now and Sara turned to Grissom quickly, trying not to look down.

"Look, the point is, I'm not going anywhere. This is it for me, too. So STOP trying to scare me away because no amount of bugs in your living room or ants on your eggs is going to get me to leave you because DAMMIT I love you. So shut up and hold my hand because we are about to fall 100 feet in a metal box and I'm scared." Sara blurted quickly

At that moment the car peaked over the crest of the hill and flew down the track on the other side. Grissom took a breath, grabbed Sara's hand, and took the plunge.

THE END

YEAH that's actually the end- I AM SO SORRY THAT TOOK SO LONG! And I'm sorry the ending sucked so badly:::meep:

**_PS WHY was there not a new episode this week? There were only 5 new eps so far! That's so messed up!_**


End file.
